


Sticking Place

by MadameGiry25



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Crack, F/M, Fear, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-20
Updated: 2013-02-20
Packaged: 2017-11-29 22:59:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/692530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadameGiry25/pseuds/MadameGiry25
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He sees her picture and he wonders if it's even possible...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sticking Place

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the January Crack Challenge at Hogwarts Online II. Assigned pairing: Pettigrew/Umbridge.

He saw her picture in _the Daily Prophet_. She smiled triumphantly out under a blaring headline that boasted of her new appointment as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School. The Prophet journalist boasted of her position, proclaiming the wisdom of the position. But he could hardly see the article. His eyes traveled up and down the photograph, seeing her smile and wave. Her eyes seemed to bore into him and he caught himself catching his breath at the sight. He had seen her many times before in the _Prophet_ and at the Ministry. But not like this.

* * *

I can see her eyes

Their light burns into my soul

I can only gape

* * *

He had never spoken to her in person; he knew that she would never stoop to speak to the likes of him. In the past, there had never been a reason to speak. She was just another person who worked at the Ministry. And he wasn't quite sure why this particular photo stood out to him. He was proud of her accomplishment, of course. It would be good for Hogwarts to experience discipline. If her past deeds were anything to go by, she would give them what they needed. He wondered if the Master had something to do with it.

* * *

Photo entrances

I must pull my eyes away

There is no future

* * *

The woman in the photograph tilts her squat head and smiles at him, one eye closing in a knowing wink. He felt a shiver run down his spine at the motion. He didn't understand why he was feeling this way. He didn't understand the meaning. And he wasn't sure that there was a meaning. Perhaps he was just jumpy after spending so much time with the Master. That was always a possibility. But that didn't explain why he found himself unable to shake the gaze of the woman in the photograph. There was something in her scrutiny that chilled him.

* * *

Why does she do that?

Why does she keep my eyes fixed?

What is in that stare?

* * *

With a start, he tossed the newspaper down onto the table. But even that could not pull him out of the inky folds of paper and return him to the real world. There was no real world. Nothing but the slatted chair that poked his back, the wooden table before him, and the paper. The photograph. All of the rest of the world was a memory, as though a spell had been cast to keep him from reality. His mind registered fear and obsession and wonder in the same breath. He shivered, his eyes melting into the picture once more.

* * *

This feeling is new

Bordering on obsession

It is not called love

* * *

His eyes captured by the photograph, he wondered if a spell had been cast to keep his attention. He can feel a want that is so strong it takes his breath away. But a want for what? The need, the pull is unfamiliar and inexplicable. He put a hand to his stomach, feeling butterflies take flight. No. Not butterflies. Snakes. Snakes that wriggled and hissed inside his stomach, releasing a steam that traveled up to his throat and out his mouth. Alarmed, he jerked his head back. He focused on the wood of the table. Just to keep him calm.

* * *

Tremble down my spine

A feeling of such desire

It won't go away

* * *

Deep breaths. In and out. In and out. Slowly. Carefully. In and out. Tame the snakes. Pull the mind out of the fear. Cover the picture with his hands. He began to feel a bit calmer. Slowly, he forced his mind to go back and consider. This was the first newspaper that he had seen in months. He had been in hiding at the Master's orders. He was lonely. He was starved of company. This was the first human being that he had seen for a very long time. Surely that must be the reason. That must be the reason.

* * *

Push the feelings gone

I'll get them out of my head

With a twinge of grief

* * *

He came back to the present moment, his limbs beginning to relax. He was now able to look at the photograph without feeling the snakes writhe within. He would have liked to say that the photograph no longer had an effect on him. She was so beautiful, despite what others might say. He wondered if the feelings were more than loneliness. He knew that it wasn't possible. He shouldn't think that way. She would never love him in return. Love? Did he just think that? Surely not. He was immune to love. That happened to other people, not to him.

* * *

I know it's not there

I must shut out the lady

Not without heartache


End file.
